The Vatican has shut down all the ancient catacombs that are usually open to tourists because of the Covid-19 epidemic in Italy.
Vatican official Monsignor Pasquale Iacobone said the decision the decision was taken to protect guides who work in the restricted underground spaces as well as visitors.
As he told Reuters, the grouping of visitors in small, narrow spaces and humid conditions, like the catacombs, provide the ideal conditions for the virus to spread..
“We hope to be able to reopen them as soon as possible, but we really had no choice,” Iacobone concluded.
Source: ANA-MPA